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How to find a sample time series

Hypothetical scenario: You want to better understand how streamflow on the Yakima River is projected to change by the end of the 21st century. You are curious about the change at two locations: Kiona and Troy.

  1. Navigate to the Data tab in the upper-right corner of the website.

  2. Locate your desired site for the Yakima River either:
    • in the dropdown menu by scrolling to Yakima River and selecting the location along the river you want or
    • Selecting the blue icon in the inset map corresponding to the location you want. After clicking on the blue pin, click the link below Website which will take you to the website housing that location’s data.

  3. After arriving at the website for Yakima River at Kiona, scroll down to find tables including the different modeling options. There is a different table for each downscaling method and RCP.

  4. Select the hydrologic model parameter set within the table. Then choose which GCM you would like to select.

  5. The desired cell within the table will include a Raw hyperlink which will take you to a link with a timeseries of streamflow. At 190 sites (including the Yakima River at Kiona location) there will also be options within the table with BC links to bias-corrected streamflow time series. At other locations (for example Yakima River at Troy) there will only be Raw timeseries available.

  6. Click on the desired time series and a download will automatically begin. There is a separate file for every site and every permutation of modeling options. The top of each timeseries file includes a large section of metadata describing the file contents. Each of those lines begins with a # symbol. The time series then includes a date stamp and a set of daily instantaneous streamflow in cubic feet per second.

  7. For analysis, the selected time series in this dataset is equivalent to the transient time series as produced in the RMJOC-I project. Every time series includes a control simulation in the 20th century which reflects the climate as modeled by the GCM for the past. A key note is that the control simulation reflects statistically the same climate as the past, but does not align with the same recorded weather as was observed. So, for example, the same total amount of precipitation occured in the past for the GCM simulation, but the drought of 1976-1977 does not necessarily exist within the control simulation. The climate change impacts take effect starting in 2006. Between 2006 and the end of the 21st century the streamflow time series experiences the changes in temperature and precipitation as modeled by the RCP-GCM-downscaling method selected.